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Draft legislation in Michigan would restructure the school finance system so state funds predominantly follow children, allowing them to attend any public school in the state that will have them. Gov. Rick Snyder commissioned the 302-page proposal from the Oxford Foundation, a Michigan nonprofit. Districts would be free to choose ...

In this policy analysis, Richard Mikos writes that the American Constitution divides governmental power between the federal government and several state governments. In the event of a conflict between federal law and state law, the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution (Article VI, Clause 2) makes it clear that state policies ...

Government-provided deposit insurance is not free. The reason is straightforward: Government-provided deposit insurance in practice differs significantly from that proposed in theory. First, the FDIC must expend real resources administering and operating the Deposit Insurance Fund. Second, the FDIC is committed to bailing out depositors ...

James Locklock, orginator of Gaia theory, and one of the great founders of modern environmentalism, writes a letter of objection in regards to a proposed windfarm development in the English countryside. Notable passage: I am an environmentalist and founder member of the Greens but I bow my head in shame at the thought that ...

In this letter to Congress, president of the Energy Consumers of America, Paul Cicio contends that a carbon tax would add to manufacturing costs of about $16.6 billion per year. It would also increase the cost of natural gas, electricity, and transportation fuels. ...

Growing almost as fast as the wireless communications industry are the fees and taxes paid by wireless phone users. Even as revenue earned per wireless phone falls, taxes and fees climb. In a new report, Scott Mackey of KSE Partners examines the burden these taxes and fees add to wireless phone users’ monthly bills. Mackey ...

It would appear that the greater warming of daily minimum temperatures, as compared to daily maximum temperatures, has been a great boon to winter wheat production in Northern China... Read More
Streamflow Trends in Nepal Since the 1960s (11 December 2012)
How have they responded to the concomitant warming of the globe ...

UPDATE: On March 13, 2013, The Heartland Institute was among 16 conservative think tanks and advocacy groups that signed a letter urging a sense of the Congress resolution opposing a carbon tax. You can read that letter here . On December 12, 2012, 14 conservative think tanks and advocacy groups joined forces to urge Congress ...

If plunging over the fiscal cliff in January would threaten the nation’s economy, Congress and the President could also do harm in another way: by dodging the cliff through gimmicks and bogus budget cuts that create only illusory savings in a “grand” budget bargain. Both the White House and lawmakers have shown a propensity ...

Studies are mixed regarding whether plastic bag bans offer significant environmental benefits, but claims of rampant environmental harms are suspect. Proponents of bag-bans omit the most important consideration, which is what replaces the plastic bags? Other bags (including cloth) have even worse environmental impact profiles, and ...

With the reelection of President Obama, there will be no movement at the federal level to repeal the President’s health care law. For Idaho, a state where Republican Gov. Butch Otter considered “nullifying” the law when it was passed, the future of Obama’s law is less certain. When the Supreme Court upheld the law, Otter ...

Bills that would make Michigan the 24th right-to-work state in the nation passed in the House and Senate on Dec. 11, with the backing of Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who signed them into law later that day. Workers in right-to-work states have the freedom to choose if they want to be members of a union and are not forced to ...

As Congress considers whether to allow tax rates, including those on capital gains, to rise in 2013, some state legislators are debating whether to change their state-level capital gains taxes. One of those debates is in Oregon, which has one of the nation’s highest capital gains tax rates. According to research by the Oregon ...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took the stage at a center-left think tank to promote school choice and competition as a bipartisan, “consensus issue.” “Equal opportunity in education should not be a conservative or liberal position; it should be an American position,” said Jindal, who chairs the Republican Governors Association. Since ...

The family of a teenager who stowed away in the wheel well of a Boeing 737 jet at an airport in Charlotte, North Carolina and fell to this death after the plane took off is suing the city, its airport, and the airline for negligence. The 16-year-old accessed the airport and climbed into the wheel well but didn’t fall ...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 is working. Since its implementation in July 2011 to reduce state spending, the state budget has been balanced, property taxes have been reduced, and state revenue collections are surging, all for the first time in a decade or more. Dozens of school districts were able to balance their ...

Michelle Minton of the Competitive Enterprise Institute details the harm caused by the “three-tier” distribution on the alcohol industry. Minton notes, “More freedom, not less, will make it easier for small brewers to start up and stay in business, resulting in better beer choices for consumers.” ...

What is the future of ObamaCare in Florida now that President Obama is reelected? If Republican Gov. Rick Scott has his way, the state will continue to resist the president’s signature law. Gov. Scott has been a high-profile opponent of Obama’s law since the controversial legislation was proposed. Even though voters returned ...

After half a day of math training, Oregon high school history teacher Jessica Keskitalo is teaching seventh grade math this school year. She is one of 365 Beaverton School District has shifted according to seniority rather than classroom needs during budget cuts. Oregon requires districts to lay off teachers with the least ...

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